The New York Mets lost 5-2 to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night at Dodgers Stadium to even the series at 1-1.
Noah Syndergaard pitched pretty well for the Mets. Thor went 6.1 innings, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and 4 walks, striking out 9. But Thor was inefficient and it cost him, as he ran out of steam late, forcing the Mets to pull him after 115 pitches with runners on the corners in a game the Mets led 2-1 (both runners would score).
New York got to Zack Greinke early with a pair of solo shots from Yoenis Cespedes and Michael Conforto. But that would be all for the Mets offense.
With the Mets up 2-0 early, the Dodgers got back-to-back doubles to start the home half of the fourth and make it a one-run game. They might have tied it had Andre Ethier not been thrown out at third on a comebacker to the pitcher, one play after driving home Justin Turner.
The game was decided in the bottom of the seventh. After striking out the first hitter, Thor walked Enrique Hernandez, who stole second. Chase Utley singled to put runners on the corners and end Thor’s night.
Bartolo Colon came in and got ahead 0-2 on Howie Kendrick. But a couple pitches later, Kendrick lined one softly over Bartolo’s head and up the middle. Daniel Murphy flagged it down and tossed it to Ruben Tejada, who was then taken out on a violent slide from Chase Utley, fracturing Tejada’s right fibula as the tying run scored and the crowd erupted. The play was then reviewed, and the umpires ruled that Tejada had not touched the bag (perhaps he was following Chase Utley’s lead), putting Utley back at second and taking the second out off the board with Kendrick still at first.
Addison Reed came in and got Corey Seager to fly out for what could have been the third out, but instead Reed had to face Adrian Gonzalez, who hit a 2-run double on an 0-2 count to give the Dodgers their first lead of the series. Justin Turner then tacked on another run with a double before Jon Niese came in and stopped the bleeding.
Hansel Robles pitched a scoreless eighth, but the Mets did nothing against the Dodger bullpen, which wrapped up the 5-2 LA victory.
Yowzers. I felt like we got robbed. After discussing the rulebook with a few people, it’s actually hard to argue against what happened, because it technically wasn’t a neighborhood play, and the rulebook provides for the fact that Utley would of course have touched the bag before running off the field had he not been called out. The only legitimate gripe might be that the slide was dirty. Where the heck was that ump when Marlon Anderson was sliding to second in Philly back in the day? Anyway, you can reconcile what happened with what the rulebook says should have happened. But that doesn’t get rid of our gut feeling that what happened was, well, BS. And I’ll never get over the fact that Terry didn’t at least appeal.
And here are some wise words from Justin Upton:
I said before the series that the inability of the Mets aces to use their pitches efficiently might cost them, as they would be hard-pressed to deliver the ball to Jeurys Familia. We saw that last night (although it worked out thanks to Terry really squeezing everything out of Jacob) and we saw it tonight (it didn’t work as well). Aside from Familia, it’s hard to trust a lot of these relievers. Thor seemed to be chasing the strikeout at times today. Matt Harvey has to pitch well on Monday (and keep the ball in the park), but he really, really needs to pitch smart.
The offense hasn’t been great but the pop has been there, and the run totals would be a lot nicer had those dingers happened to come with men on base. Brett Anderson isn’t anywhere near the level of the pitchers the Mets faced in the first two games, so while we’ve seen them have horrible showings against irrelevant pitchers, and nothing is guaranteed, Harvey should get a bit more run support than Thor and Jacob had.
I wouldn’t have signed up for a loss with a 2-0 lead in the fourth or a 2-1 lead in the seventh. But I would have signed up for a split going into the series. Game 3 was going to be a must-win going in. It seemed for a few moments today that game 3 might become a luxury, but you have to like our chances with Harvey on the mound. We got the split in LA. We beat an ace. We’re coming home with a chance to make sure this thing never goes back to LA. If Harvey takes care of business, we have two more cracks at the Kershaw-Greinke combo needing just one win. Tonight would have been a huge win to get, and really helped our chances, but things aren’t all that bad right now, no matter how frustrating they may have gotten in this one.
It’s a shame about Tejada. Flores should be ready to step up. Utley will get his (or a more talented teammate will get his for him).
Anderson is no pushover. Harvey is the best pitcher we have. Let’s get this done, go up 2-1 and take it from there. See you at 8 on Monday night.
